Developing and Implementing an Internet-Based Financial System Simulation Game

Thanks to the internet and server-side technology such as Active Server Pages (ASP), developing and implementing interactive pedagogy is proving quickly to be both user-friendly and relatively inexpensive, requiring of faculty and students only pedestrian programming skills and access to the internet, respectively. The Financial System Simulator (FSS), developed over a summer term, is one such example. The FSS is an internet-based, interactive teaching aid that introduces undergraduate students to the domestic and international consequences of monetary policy. While simulators are common among computer-aided interactive learning devices in today\u27s undergraduate economics curricula the FSS is unique because students, representing nations, interact with each other rather than a computer. Hence, the exercise provides users with real-time outcomes based upon their decisions, as well as the decisions of other students. According to student surveys the game helped students understand domestic and international implications of monetary policy and kept students motivated and interested throughout the learning process